How local policing has changed since Oct. 22

Ottawa Police Const. Santiago De Los Santos watches over the National War Memorial in Ottawa as sentries return to their post for their first day, on Thursday, April 9, 2015. The Department of Defence has hired the Ottawa Police to guard the sentries, after Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, a reservist guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, was shot and killed by a gunman while on sentry duty on Oct. 22, 2014. Ottawa Citizen

A year after an ISIL-inspired gunman killed an unarmed ceremonial sentry at the National War Memorial, Ottawa police now monitor the vulnerable spot, guarding the guards.

In some ways, the duty is emblematic of the challenges the police service of the nation’s capital faces — counter-terrorism investigations fall outside the force’s mandate, except that any threat of terrorism affects the city’s safety. The cenotaph and Parliament Hill might be national landmarks, but they are nestled inside the City of Ottawa.

Officers policing the nation’s capital have always been cognizant of their special role that extends beyond the mandate of most city police forces. But in the year since the attack on the Hill, Ottawa police have had to accept that terrorism-related threats in the capital are no longer just potential threats — and that’s changed how they police this city.

“I think overall the Ottawa police and the community of Ottawa, we realized that it’s a matter of when and not if anymore,” said Supt. Scott Nystedt, who oversees emergency operations at the force.

“It actually happened.”

Chief Charles Bordeleau frequently boasts that Ottawa is a safe city, and crime stats and public opinion support that claim.

“But that was invaded a year ago,” Nystedt said. “People are less naïve going forward, including our officers.”

Law enforcement officers are themselves a target. An ISIL propaganda video used television news footage of Ottawa officers responding on Oct. 22 to encourage attacks against police.

If police efforts on Oct. 22 were reactionary — with officers sporting balaclavas, chaotically self-deploying to danger spots from their homes and stations and working non-stop amid the confusion of an active shooter situation — then the past 12 months have been about increased prevention.

“There was a huge groundswell (of tips) right after Oct. 22, 2014,” said Sgt. Will Hinterberger of the Ottawa police security intelligence section, which triages terrorism-related reports. “We had to bring in additional officers to help with the caseload.

“It was a topic that suddenly resonated amongst everybody in the community. It was something that had happened here. It was real.”

Counterterrorism is the mandate of the national police force, the RCMP. But Ottawa police, while a municipal force, work to support those investigations.

“A lot of information can be generated at the local level,” Hinterberger said.

That information can come to officers in the form of a tip from a concerned member of a religious community who wants to flag someone who has expressed radical views, or from someone who overhears a co-worker making threats against people or places. While RCMP will then lead investigations, local officers often do the grunt work for what are massive, time-consuming counterterrorism investigations.

“A full-blown (counterterrorism) investigation is a tremendous effort and it requires a lot of resources,” Hinterberger said.

Once the RCMP launches an investigation, local patrol officers work the streets to help out, from pulling over “persons of interest” to following suspects at the RCMP’s request or working to build relationships with mosques and other groups in at-risk communities.

(Hinterberger stressed that there’s no information to suggest that Ottawa is any more of a hotbed for terror activity than other cities, despite several high-profile RCMP arrests in the area.)

The Ottawa force has its own officers who are on loan to the RCMP’s national security unit, called INSET — integrated national security enforcement teams.

Reviews of what Ottawa officers did on Oct. 22 have resulted in 36 recommendations “to help mitigate some of the issues that we experienced that day,” Nystedt said.

A new radio system that allows for cross-communication with other forces is expected to roll out in November, the tactical unit has purchased state-of-the art night vision goggles, and a contingency plan is in effect to deploy officers in shifts rather than risk burnout when all officers respond at once.

The contract at the War Memorial, though, will remain for at least this year. Military police aren’t allowed to provide security for the site and, until that changes, local officers expect to guard the sentries.

“It’s very important,” Nystedt said.

There are always more than enough volunteers for the shifts at the War Memorial. Some officers have even refused to be paid.

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